The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: Factotum on September 25, 2013, 02:08:16 pm
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When it's a TomTato!
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-plants/all-vegetable-plants/tomtato/t47176TM (http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-plants/all-vegetable-plants/tomtato/t47176TM)
Whatever will they come up with next?
Still I suppose it could be a good idea for people with limited space
Sue
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I don't know if this has happened anyone else or not but this year pretty much all my potato plants produced what looked like green tomatoes. I looked up some information about this and apparently it was nothing too unusual. It must have been the weather this year but these fruits were like tomatoes on the outside and potatoes on the inside. Totally inedible I was told. Still I don't think I will be bulk ordering these new "TomTatoes" for nest year :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Anything on a potato plant that is green is poisonous(including the green bits on potatoes) so leave well alone :o
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I had heard inedible, but I guess I should have guessed poisonous really. Glad I steered clear of them all the same :)
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I always thought u can make tomatoes plants last for years. I guess with these that isnt possible?
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i find things like this rather bizarre and unnecessary, but then again, how many of us have fruit trees on grafted rootstock? similar really. iv seen trees that are peach, apple etc combined. not for me though.
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I'm not sure I would grow them myself but I do think it's a clever idea.
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When OH comes in proudly showing his 'grafted' tomato plant that cost £4.99 at M*F :o . and I'm weeding out the self-sown seedlings in the greenhouse ::) . Grafted? Why?
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Some root stocks give a better quality feed to the fruits making for a better taste.
They are both from the solane / nightshade( ? ) family so it should be relatively easy to grow them .
The tomtato is not a new idea but does seem to be a new commercial one .
I think that the size of the potato root will mean a greater quantity of small er ones & a longer crop .
Alison has ordered me two just for a laugh , to see what happens..
She has said if it is a go'er can I try and graft black cherry toms & beefsteak toms on indeterminate potatoes next year .
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The Tomtato's arrived this morning , well packed in a rigid holder which was inserted in a cardboard sleeve.
I took them out the pack and watered them then sat them on the heated misting bed in the green house that is on at 65 oF / 19 oC under heat . this afternoon they had perked up a bit , tonight I've covered them with fleece to keep them warm as it's turned rather wet & brassy tonight .
I did a bit of research they seem to have been developed about 2003 , found that both the potato stem and the tomato stem have to be a good match in diameters when doing the graft .
When the two live plants have been side by side grafted, once the graft heals/takes you sever the live tomato root& remove it and sever the potato top & dispose of it .
the graft sore now has to heal , then you plant it with the graft below the soil so that the tubers only develop below, otherwise you'll have potato tops emerge if the graft is above the soil.
The beauty/ simplicity of such a grafted plant like a tomtato is that you get two valuable crops from only one soil foot print .
This commercialisation of them could soon ( in three or four years time ) see many UK gardeners & small holders buying them for around £ 1.50 each it the idea gets enough take up initially .
The grafting is done in the Netherlands and the potted plants are shipped over here , obviously you can't pant them out till after the last frost as the tomato end won't survive things. So you may have to repot at least once before putting them out into a 40 litre plus sized container or planted out doors in quality soil in full sun .
The tomatoes are of the vine type at present and are cherry tomatoes .
The potatoes are harvested a fortnight after the tomato vine dies and is removed , this is done to stop the dreaded blight affecting the tubers .